AWIL AT SCHOOLhttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com
English at Sandvika High SchoolThu, 15 Feb 2018 12:33:59 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/8e5d9b94a81019a947dfa3eb699b19aa?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngAWIL AT SCHOOLhttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com
The movie “Selma” – to be continuedhttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/the-movie-selma-to-be-continued/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/the-movie-selma-to-be-continued/#respondThu, 15 Feb 2018 12:33:53 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=493Selma is a 2014 American movie about the legacy of one of the greatest marches in the civil rights era, and the man who led this march. The movie was produced by Ava DuVarnay and was really popular when it came out. It depicts the months prior to the march, and the several unsuccessful marches attempted. But was the movie accurate in the depiction of the late Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and President Lyndon B. Johnson?

The movie starts with a scene where the reverend was preparing to receive the Nobel peace prize in Oslo. In the speech, he praises those who have fought before him and those who fight with him. The movie later depicts the tragic event where a racist bombed a Black church and killed four young African-American girls. They were preparing for their baptism when this tragedy occurred. Later on, in the movie, we get to see the underlying theme. Annie Lee Cooper, a black woman who engaged in the civil rights movement, went to the city hall to try and register to vote. She answered all the questions in the voting test required for black citizens in the state of Alabama. In the movie, we see the white registrar

— To be continued —

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/the-movie-selma-to-be-continued/feed/0awmo0408Scotland and Brexit – Do Scots need #indyref2?https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/scotland-and-brexit-do-scots-need-indyref2/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/scotland-and-brexit-do-scots-need-indyref2/#respondThu, 01 Feb 2018 19:06:15 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=488In 2014, Scotland had a referendum on whether to become an independent nation or not. The Scottish National Party(SNP), then headed by Alex Salmond, pushed for a yes vote but lost. Almost 55% of the voter mass chose to remain a part of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The no-campaign had the better arguments according to many political pundits. If Scotland left the union, they would also leave the single market and the EU. This would hurt their economy and be detrimental to the Scottish society overall.
No-campaigners reassured Scottish voters that a Scotland within the union would remain a Scotland within the EU.

One of the guarantees for European refusal of Scottish admission was and still is Spain. Spain has its own problems with separatist movements in the regions of Catalonia and Basque. It fears that Scottish independence would reignite separatist movements in Barcelona. This fear became reality as we all saw the police brutality against Catalan separatists voting in a referendum deemed illegal by the authorities in Madrid.

The loss for the independence movement led to the reshuffle of the leader position of the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon became the new Scottish First Minister, a title held for the leader of the Scottish parliament and the head of her party. Two years after the independence referendum, David Cameron(former PM) wanted to meet the demands of several Conservative and UKIP(United Kingdom Independence Party) MPs and called for a referendum on whether to stay in the European Union or be the first country to leave the Union since its founding days.

The referendum on EU membership, popularly dubbed “Brexit” had an unexpected result. The majority of the electorate voted to leave the EU. This was a political upheaval similar to the results of the latest American election. Scots woke up to a Britain that was going to trigger the infamous article 50 and leave the EU even though they were promised a few years earlier that they would have a safe place within the European Union if they remained a part of the UK.
The Scots overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU, while their English and Welsh counterparts voted to leave the union.

The feeling of betrayal led to several high-profile Scottish politicians calling for a second referendum. Nicola Sturgeon(First Minister – SNP) has signaled that she will wait to see the eventual deal between London and Brussels before calling for another independence referendum – popularly dubbed #indyref2. In my own opinion, the Scottish people deserve to be heard. They were heard in 2014 when they voted no for independence, but the tables have turned this time. I believe in the same manner that the broader British people deserve another referendum. One based on facts and arguments, and not Farage`s(former head of UKIP) lies about immigration and increased fundings for the national health service(NHS). However, nobody knows how the EU negotiations will end. It may turn out to be positive for the UK, or it may affect its economy.

The Scottish government led by the SNP has been in a war of words with the central government. May accuses the government in Holyrood of putting sticks in the wheels for her EU negotiations. However, the Scottish Conservatives are the nationalists biggest rival and opponent. The one Sturgeon is afraid of – in a political sense, is Ruth Davidson(head of Scottish Conservatives). Davidson managed to gain 12 seats in the regional parliament – all taken from former SNP strongholds.

The Norwegian conservative-leaning daily newspaper ran the headline “Theresa May`s crisis worsens”. And they`re right. Yesterday a report leaked to the media described the economic consequences Brexit could have. There is so much uncertainty around the negotiations and it all seems like a political mess. Maybe this mayhem will create another opportunity for Sturgeon and her search for independence?

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/scotland-and-brexit-do-scots-need-indyref2/feed/0salmond-eu-1400x788awmo0408Bilderesultat for scottish independence referendum 2014Bilderesultat for scotland eu referendumWill Donald Trump get another three years?https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/will-donald-trump-get-another-three-years/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/will-donald-trump-get-another-three-years/#respondWed, 17 Jan 2018 20:46:42 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=483Donald Trump has been president for almost one full year now. The maiden year of his career as the highest ranking chosen official has been full of political intrigues and discussions. It has surely been a turbulent year for his administration, and the question that everyone keeps asking is if he will last for another three years.

One of the biggest threats to Trump and his administration is the Russian interference investigation led by Robert Mueller. If Trump and his campaign are found guilty in collaborating and acting at the behest of Moscow, a possible impeachment would be easier to go through. Congresswoman Maxine Waters(D) has led the fight to get him impeached. Impeachment seems to be far fetched to many, but we never know what impulsive and unconstitutional thing Trump can do to lead to impeachment.

Trump has also offended nearly everyone with statements against the entire continent of Africa and large portions of the non-white world. This type of foreign policy blunders embarasses large segments of the American public and their chosen officials. These foreign policy blunders can lead to calls for him to resign, or make his three last years in office harder. This incident supposedly happend during a bipartisan closed meeting about immigration reform. Several high ranking Democrats who attended the meeting say that they heard the President of the United States call an entire continent and several carribean nations for “shitholes”. He also supposedly said that he would prefer immigrants from Norway. This is only a few days after he met his Norwegian counterpart PM Solberg.

There is also an election coming up soon for the senate and house. If the Democratic party manages to mobilize the voters, they could gain majority in both the senate and the house. This could be unfavorable for the current administration. It would also stop all of Trumps bissare and out of touch law proposals like funding for the supposed wall on the southern border. 6th of November this year people are going to the voting booths. If Trump is impeached, Mike Pence his VP will be the president out the term. Pence is known as a conservative man who refuses to be or dine alone with women except his amily and his wife.

Many people have called President Trump an unpredictable man, so only time will tell us if he can last throughout his entire term! WE hope not

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/will-donald-trump-get-another-three-years/feed/0707508-1484168370-wideawmo0408Bilderesultat for donald trump impeachThe Northern Irish conflicthttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/the-northern-irish-conflict/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/the-northern-irish-conflict/#commentsWed, 17 Jan 2018 16:08:22 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=480“The Irish question” or conflict, is mainly about the two groups of people fighting over the same land, the Unionists who are mainly Protestants, also referred to as Loyalists, and the Nationalists who are manly Catholics also referred to as Republicans. The Unionists would like the province to remain part of the United Kingdom. The Nationalists, however, would like Northern Ireland to be reunited with Ireland. Everyone has a point, the Unionists on the grounds of being the former majority in Northern Ireland, while the Nationalists on the grounds of being in the majority on the island of Ireland.

History is a important part of the equation. The English King Henry VIII was known for having many wives and killing some of them after they couldn’t provide him with a male heir, but also remembered as the king that colonized northern Ireland. After Henry renounced his Catholicism and established the Protestant Anglican Church, he feared a Catholic invasion by his enemies namely staunchly Catholic Spain and France. Ireland was Catholic, and he feared that it may be used by foreign troops for an assault against his kingdom. Therefore he decreed that Protestants would move from England and parts of Scotland to fertile lands in the north of Ireland. Henry and the English basically colonized parts of Ireland with Protestants in order to keep the Catholics in check. This settler project was intended to hinder foreign catholic troops from establishing a foothold in Ireland, but it had lasting consequences for the Irish island, all the way up to today.

In the wake of the demise of the British Empire, Ireland was granted its independence in the early 1920s. The partition plan divided the Irish island into two sovereign parts. Eire or the Republic and Ulster – the northern part. The parliament in London thought that the so-called Irish problem would disappear if Ireland was an integrated part of the union. This angered many Catholics and pleased many loyalist Protestants. Later on, Catholics felt oppressed by the majority Protestant and started to protest in the streets. This led to the British sending troops to contain the largely peaceful protests, but this just angered the Catholics even more. As we all know violence breeds violence. Later on, groups were created on both sides. The Ulster volunteer forces and the Irish Republican Army started infighting and sectarian violence.

The Troubles

By the late 1969s, there was a feeling among the minority that they had been pushed into the margins of society and turned into second-class citizens. inspired by the civil rights movement in the US, the Catholics took to the streets to demonstrate against suppression and bad treatment. the years of 1968 and 1969 have later been called the beginning of the period known as “the troubles”- thirty years long civil war between republicans and loyalists. In 1969, the British government sent in troops to restore order on the streets of Northern Ireland, but the violence just escalated.

The arrival of British troops angered the Republican as they viewed the troops as other forces sent in to keep them down. it also provoked the militant wing the Irish republican army (IRA)- the provisional IRA- fought for freeing Northern Ireland from British control. For the next thirty years, the province was thrown into a “Long War” where people lived with terror, threats and violence.

In 1998, the political parties in Northern Ireland and the two governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom signed a peace treaty called the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement) which brought relative peace to the province. But it turned out that the Agreement was difficult to implement and a renegotiated agreement was signed in 2007. Since, 200, Northern Ireland has had a stable internal government (Stormont) where former enemies now cooperate to make sure that the province will avoid falling into the pitfalls of the past.

But what about Brexit? Brexit is a process that is expected to lead Great Britain and maybe Gibraltar out of the EU. The background for Britain stepping out of the EU is the referendum of EU membership of 2016. This topic has been much discussed in media the last year. The happening has been Brexit and only the future can tell us what the outcome will give the influenced parts. It is expected to have consequences for the whole of the United Kingdom. Nationalists of Northern Ireland wanted the UK to remain in the EU, but unionists wanted to leave. Remained campaigners warned that a Brexit would lead to the re-establishment of a harder border along the 310-mile frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic. It would now not be possible to use the North as a backdoor immigration route for the EU nationals. The leave campaigners contend that as there has been free travel areas between the UK and Ireland since 1923. The Republic of Ireland is not a member of Schengen free movement area, which means that this will not happen.

There will be established a workable arrangement instead, although the precise arrangement will depend on what kind of deal the UK make with the EU.

Views and concerns from both sides of the border

The absence of EU politics might play a large part in the issues that have previously derived on the isle of Ireland and are still ongoing. The conflict has set its mark and both sides still experience it. The Northern part of Ireland is currently a part of Great Britain, meaning that one part has left the EU, whilst the other is staying.

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/the-northern-irish-conflict/feed/1nirelandderryfreejmawmo0408Bilderesultat for the troubles irelandGlobal goal 4 – quality education for allhttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/global-goal-4-quality-education-for-all/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/global-goal-4-quality-education-for-all/#commentsThu, 14 Dec 2017 12:20:31 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=477Our group consisting of me, Thomas, Ingrid and Sara have chosen to focus on the fourth Global goal – quality education. We are so lucky that we live in a country that does not just guarantee more than 10 years of education, but also quality education.

The goal: To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. By 2030, every child will have access to an inclusive and quality education.

“In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education… it’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond…” -Malala Yousafzai.

The 25th of September 2015, the UN set 17 goals to transform our world; called The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The target was to achieve these goals within the next 15 years. This is a good summary of the most important global challenges we’re facing today. We’re going to focus on goal number 4; quality education.

Education is fundamental for the development of a society. It gives us knowledge about how to use our resources and build up our nation piece by piece. It creates jobs, and provides us with important science and information. There are major differences between developed and developing countries, and education plays a huge part of this gap. It is therefore important that developing countries have the opportunity of quality education as well. Education is also of course extremely important for our personal development and success. When attending to school you take part of a society, gain social network and develop yourself as a wiser person. It also provides you with a more secure future, with the possibility of getting proper jobs. And last but not least it is absolutely fundamental for the economic growth within a nation. If we have the knowledge we can produce more goods and services, become more productive and prevent unemployment.

Measures we can take to secure education for underprivileged children.

One of the most important thing we as students can do to secure the safe education for underprivileged children is to spread awareness, and make people see that this is a cause bigger than themselves and that this is a global issue that needs to be taken seriously, thus making the world a more safe and educated place.

-More money is needed if we are to achieve 12 years of free, safe, quality education for every child. The current funding shortfall is estimated to be US $39 billion a year. This may seem like a lot but it is equivalent to just eight days of global military spending. Governments has to give more humanitarian aid to education – only 2% of humanitarian aid went to education in 2013.

–Governments also has to sign the Safe Schools Declaration and implement its provisions.

– We as individuals can raise awareness to education related issues through many different platforms

Our plan for the video

We plan to make a short video highlighting the difficulties of quality education

Al Gore retracted his concession because of sporadic voter fraud reported in the key state Florida. Florida has a winner takes I all system, and he actually won the popular vote by almost half a million voters.

Why would a machine recount of Florida’s ballots tally a slightly different number than the first time? How was this a threat to the Bush campaign?

Because it was such a close tie, and the ballots are counted slightly different from time to time when counted. Therefore this could even out the results.

Because when voting, if you didn’t get a clean punch at the chad, the small perforated box that is punched to cast a vote, or if the flap did not fall off, the machine did not count your vote right.

What trend did the Democrats discover about old voting machines and the neighborhoods they serve?

That they didn’t clean out underneat where the chad was supposed to fall down, which resulted in difficulties making a clean punch at the ballots.

What did the Democrats discover about voters being turned away from the polls?

The list of felons where wrong, so 20 000 people were denied to vote.

Did the Republicans actively try to stop a hand recount? Why?

Yes, they did. They had “won” the election, and where afraid they would lose if there where a recount.

What issues did officials encounter with the hand recount?

they had different opinions on the standard of the chad.

Why did the Republicans want to count absentee ballots?

The Democrats issued the fact that every vote should value, to not “leave” any votes behind. Therefore the Republicans meant that this should go for the absentee ballots as well, where there are a lot of undervotes.

In which court did James Baker think the Republicans would definitely lose? Which Court did he think they would be more likely to win in the long run?

James Baker thought the Republicans would definitely lose to the State Court but win in the Supreme Court.

What did Baker mean when he suggested that “it’s time to exercise our first amendment right”? What is the first amendment?

He meant to demonstrate, use their freedom of speech.

What were the advisory opinions?

the law on whether or not a county could be demanded recounted was where vague and opened up for a different interpretation.

The advisory opinion on Bush’s side was that unless there were something wrong with the system of the counting machines, there where no demand of recount.

However, the Gore camp got their own advisory opinion which claimed de opposite, that the ballots where handled wrong, the fact that the ballots where the chad weren’t with a clean punch, was enough to demand a recount.

Who represented Gore during the trials? Why was this lawyer recruited?

The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the clause provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction “the equal protection of the laws”

Why did the Bush camp think they had a small victory when they learned the Supreme Court didn’t set counting standards?

Because they were a small step ahead, and while the Gore camp would gain from a count with the possibility of more votes, the Bush camp didn’t want to risk their lead.

How do you feel about the fact that many counties did not run their ballots through the machines again?

I think that is bad and undemocratic They clearly weren’t fully how the ballots and machines function and aware of why they needed to run the ballots through the machines again.

Do you think Democrats should have begun planning for lawsuits earlier?

Yeah maybe, because it got more and messier, and thus more recounts and lawsuits the more impatient people got and less trustworthy it got.

Do you think the Texas voting law signed by Governor Bush helped Gore’s case or was it irrelevant to Gore winning in the Florida Supreme Court?

Yes, I do think that the Texas voting law signed by Governor Bush helped Gore’s case, it was definitely not irrelevant to Gore winning in the Florida Supreme Court because it was brought up and mentioned in court, and silenced the Bush spokesman.

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/10/29/recount/feed/0recount-movieawmo0408From Brexit to Flexithttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/10/26/from-brexit-to-flexit/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/10/26/from-brexit-to-flexit/#respondThu, 26 Oct 2017 07:30:36 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=455The article about Brexit written in the Norwegian paper Aftenposten discusses how Theresa May`s Conservative Party is divided because of the EU negotiations and the surprising outcome of the snap general election that May called for in June. The divorce process has been though because of British uncertainty, and Brussels lack of will to cooperate and compromise. Many political pundits hoped that the Conservative Party would rise up from the ashes like a rising phoenix after Mays speech to the annual Conservative conference. That was not the case. The Prime Minister did not manage to clarify the British stance on the Brexit negotiations, and she did not manage to unite the Conservative Party.

The Conservative Party was anticipated to win the snap general election by the media and political pundits, but they lost the majority and they are now dependent on 10 Ulster-unionists. That`s a failure for Theresa May and her cabinet. This is in stark contrast to the past of the Conservatives, where one of the ministers said – The Socialists can scheme their schemes, the Liberals can dream their dreams, but we have work to do.

According to the article, the Conservative Party worked as an election campaign machine and won victory after victory. Maybe the days of Margaret Thatcher and Conservative majority are over?

The article also discusses Boris Johnson, the Foreign affairs minister, and how he undermines the government’s official stance on Brexit. Johnson calls for a hard Brexit, and in some cases, he undermines the official stance. The only hope, oddly enough, that the Conservative Party has is a dinosaur called Jacob Rees-Mogg. Rees-Mogg is very old-fashioned and conservative; the article asks us if he can bring back the young voters appeal to the Tories. Who knows in a world of Sanders, Corbyn`s and Trump`s.

In this article, we will focus on some aspects of British and US politics.

British politics can be confusing sometimes so I will try to break it down for you. The British parliament has two chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Commons; we will focus on the latter.
The House of Commons consists of members elected by voters from the different districts. The United Kingdom has a winner takes it all system that benefits the two major parties, but contrary to US politics, other parties can have a political impact. British politics consists of the two major parties; the Conservatives and the Labour party, but we also have the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Nationalist Party, Plaid Cymru, the Green party, UKIP and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party.

On the 8th of June Theresa May, the PM from the Conservative party also called the Tories, lost a snap general election that she had called for a few months earlier. The Conservative party already had a decisive majority of seats in the House of Commons, but she wanted to increase this majority ahead of the Brexit talks.
The polls gave May and her party a lead of about 20 percent ahead of her rival, Jeremy Corbyn from Labour. Nobody thought that Corbyns hard-left socialist rhetoric would appease the voters. He and the Labour party surprised all the media pundits when they gained almost 20 new seats, and increased their percentage of the vote by nearly 10 percent. The Conservatives on the other hand actually lost 13 seats and was forced to make a deal with the DUP(Democratic Unionist Party) to maintain majority if a vote of no confidence was ever to happen.

But how does the British election process happen?
Each party has nomination processes, where the members of the party elect their PM candidate, but this candidate also needs to have the support of the MPs(member of parliament). After that, they campaign for people to vote their party, not for the PM candidate but the party. That is because in the United Kingdom you have 650 constituencies where you elect one MP, who will later elect the PM on behalf of you and your party. They use the winner takes it all system. So the PM must have the backing of the parliament, and that’s why PM May was so desperate to make a deal with The DUP.

If we take a look at how things are done across the Atlantic ocean you would notice some difference. In the US we have the primaries, and then the general election where everyone who can vote has several names to choose between. In the primaries, registered members of the Democratic Party or the Republicans can participate and vote for their candidate. When a candidate is chosen, a delegate binds him or herself to the candidate and pledges to vote for him or her on the day of the party convention.
You also have constituencies in the US, and here they use a political technique that is different from Norwegian and British politics. It’s called gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering is a term created by a local newspaper in the 19th century when they wrote about a politician called Gerry. He redrew the legislative districts for political reasons. This has been the tradition from that time in both major parties. If we look at some selected states, we can see that the Democratic Party received more than 40% of the vote, yet they only got a quarter of the representatives in the state assembly.
They use this method so that they can win more districts. Gerrymandering for partisan reasons is legal, but for racial reasons is illegal and punishable by law.
Gerrymandering is quite common in the US but does not exist in the UK or Norway.

I believe that gerrymandering is dangerous for American democracy, and diminishes the power of the voters. However, the United States isn’t the only nation that somewhat suppresses the voters’ powers by political techniques. In the British general election of 2015, the United Kingdom Independence Party or UKIP won 12 percent of the popular vote, yet they only received one seat in the House of Commons. The Scottish Nationalist Party received 4,7 percent of the vote but had more than 56 seats in the House. This is because of the winner takes it all system, that mainly benefits the two main parties, but also nationalist parties. How can you claim that all voices are heard when 12% of the voters almost did not have any representation in the House of Commons?

American and British politics and democracies are admired around the world, but they do have their flaws. No democracy is perfect, all we can do is work for the betterment of our social institutions.

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/to-be-continued/feed/0Andrzej-Krauze-1211-008awmo0408The global goals 2.0https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/the-global-goals-2-0/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/the-global-goals-2-0/#respondThu, 14 Sep 2017 10:31:13 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=415The global goals are not just some optimistic goals set by leaders, they are possible goals that humanity can reach within the next 15 years. This requires us to do an effort. We can’t end world hunger and achieve gender equality with business as usual. This requires radical change. How do we achieve changes to how our leaders tackle societal problems and illnesses? We as the youth, first and foremost, must be active in politics. One of the goals is taking care of our environment and combating climate change. Climate change will affect us, the new generation even more than the old one.
We hope you enjoy this video.

]]>https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/the-global-goals-2-0/feed/0public-domain-world-country-outline-mapawmo0408The importance of knowledge in a changing worldhttps://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/the-importance-of-knowledge-in-a-changing-world/
https://awilatschool.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/the-importance-of-knowledge-in-a-changing-world/#commentsWed, 30 Aug 2017 17:54:19 +0000http://awilatschool.wordpress.com/?p=334Hello, readers! I’m ready for a new year with blog updates. This year I have a subject called social studies English. This subject is perfect for me, as it combines two of my favorite subjects into one subject. I get to debate and discuss society at large – and that in English!

The assignment given to me by Ann, my teacher in social studies English, was to read an op-ed in the New Yorker about President Trump and his lack of understanding of international relations and geopolitics. In our modern and globalized world, it is detrimental not to have a basic understanding of world history, and geopolitics. Especially if you have been chosen to govern the worlds most powerful country. Being the most powerful country in the world both financially and militarily comes with a lot of responsibility. President Trump’s actions and words have effects both domestic and foreign. We saw that when he first failed to condemn neo-nazis and blamed “many sides”.

In the op-ed from the New Yorker, President Trump’s latest embarrassment was made during a state visit from the Lebanese Prime minister Saad al-Hariri. He said that the Lebanese armed forces were “on the front line in the fight against ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah”. Hezbollah, which is a Lebanese Shia-movement, is actually part of the Lebanese government coalition, headed by Lebanese President Michael Aoun.
The New Yorker lists up several mistakes made by Trump, like when he arrived in Israel from the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia and uttered the words “I just came from the Middle-East”, forgetting that Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are in fact considered a part of the Middle-East. This is a fact that he would have known if he had studied Arab geopolitics, just like all the modern presidents did before him. He would have had some knowledge about the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Another mistake that Trump made, was mixing together Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon III. It seems like an innocent mistake, but Bonaparte and Napoleon III are two very different figures in French history. One was a dictator that invaded Russia and Egypt and brought doom upon himself and France, and the other a popularly elected leader.
All of these political mistakes aren`t important to his core voters. They detest the political elite and what they deem to be “political correctness”. To them, all they need to hear is his populist message. President Trump may be unaware of the outside world, but at home, his populist message is still going strong.

For us not to become victims of populism and easy solutions to complicated political questions, we must be educated. In order for us to learn from our own history, we must attend history class. When I found out that many Norwegian students ditch history class, or dislike it, I was very much surprised. This shows us that we also have a task in front of us so that Norway’s leaders tomorrow don’t become oblivious to history, geopolitics, and cultural relativism.

One of the main pushers and main factors behind American populism is fake news. Here you have some tips on how to see if its fake or real news:

Be skeptical of headlines – Fake news usually has a very catchy title with heaps of capital letters and exclamation marks. If the title claims shocking things and they seem too crazy to be true, that’s probably it.

Take a close look at the url adress – Most of the websites who create the fake news will imitate the authentic news site by changing a small detail in the URL address.

Some news might be fake on purpose – Be critical of what kind of news you read. Don’t share anything that seems shady.

Be aware of the dates – The false news might contain timelines that don’t make sense or have dates that have been changed.

Look at the pictures – fake news often uses pictures which are photoshopped or manipulated in some other way.

Check the evidence.– Check the writer’s sources to confirm that they are correct. If the news lacks evidence or puts their trust in unknown experts, it could testify fake news.

Check other articles– If there are no other news sources reporting something about the news, it could indicate that it’s fake. If the news is reported by several sources you trust, there’s a bigger possibility that it’s true.

Is the news just a joke?– Sometimes it might be difficult to tell apart the fake news and humor or satire. Check if the source is known for making parodies and if the details and style indicate that is is just supposed to be a joke.

Look out for irregular formatting.

Many websites that produce fake news contain spelling errors and/or irregular layouts. If the website you are receiving the news from check these boxes, you should be skeptical of their content.

Judge the pictures.

Fake news often use manipulated pictures or videos. Sometimes the pictures are real but used in another context. However, you can use a search engine to find the origin of the photo or video